Written
The story of a drug-fueled sexual encounter among a young woman from South Kingstown, Rhode Island, and four young men of a different race is raising the question of blame. If you want to know which side to blame in South Kingstown’s juxtaposition of BLM against #MeToo, the answer is us.
Eugene Volokh has posted a quick updated review of state laws concerning when residents have a right to use deadly force to defend themselves. And wouldn’t you know it, Rhode Island is one of only twelve states that fall in the “duty to retreat” category. The rest of the states are some variation of “stand…
We agree on the rules and the process, in light of inalienable rights, and justice is the result. If the system manifestly is not producing justice, then we adjust the rules and the process. But the process cannot simply be a show we put on to give the impression of rules. That is the context…
Something in Dan McGowan’s Rhode Map column today reminded me of a question I had for Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera. Asked by McGowan what has surprised her in her first 100 days in office, Rivera replied, in part: “I’m surprised by the enormous stress of providing basic city services while, at the same time, tackling…
During a time of hoped-for economic recovery after COVID lockdowns, a coalition of state, national, and local groups is asking Governor Daniel McKee to reverse his predecessor’s pledge for the Ocean State to join a handful of others in imposing a new gas tax.
The year 2020 became a cultural cliché, given the sense that reality’s wheels were coming off, but it might be more accurate to say that people (particularly elites) are refusing to accept traditional safeguards that were simply passed down culturally and accepted intrinsically. (Think media objectivity, colorblindness, the existence of truth, and so on.) Leslie…
The lede text on a WPRI Facebook post caught my attention (emphasis added): Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was injured while confronting rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection, suffered a stroke and died from natural causes, the Washington, D.C., medical examiner’s office ruled Monday. Was Sicknick injured? I can’t remember seeing any reports to…
The Providence Journal’s headline on a Katherine Gregg story draws attention to an important point about what is hidden: “RI lawmakers ask: Should police face stricter discipline?” Put simply, the bright spotlight on race makes conspicuous what the politicians, unions, and activists are trying to keep off to the side, in the dark. International Brotherhood of Police…
I’m working my way through the HBO television series, The Wire, and just finished season two. It doesn’t give much away to explain that the plot revolves around a dock-worker-union head’s quest to use revenue from smuggling to pay off city politicians so that they’ll include a dredging project in their budget. It’s purely a transactional…
Along the defund-the-police line, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza recently released the results of a Walmart-family-funded study concluding that a “prevention-first approach” to public safety would “create a healthier, safer, and more just Providence,” but residents might wonder what “prevention-first” really means. Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré has lauded Eugene, Oregon’s CAHOOTS program, which stands for…
